


Betty

by miss_congeniality



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Endgame Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, M/M, Pining Louis Tomlinson, Sweet Harry Styles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:40:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27245140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_congeniality/pseuds/miss_congeniality
Summary: Harry's boyfriend is cheating on him and Louis just wants to take his pain awayOrLarry AU inspired on Betty by Taylor Swift
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles/Original Male Character(s)
Kudos: 12





	Betty

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo this is my first time doing this kind of stuff, so it's probably not so good, but thanks for taking a look. Means a lot to me :)

"I think James is cheating on Harry"

Wait, what? No. Louis must have misheard. "As you say?"

Niall sighed and looked down. "I think James is cheating on Harry"

Okay; Louis hadn't misheard. But still, it was impossible.

"Ni, this isn't funny", Louis warned. Harry was too pure to even think of making jokes like this.

"Dude, I wish I was kidding." Niall looked at him sternly; worry and sadness flooding his eyes.

Louis shook his head in total disbelief. The very idea was ridiculous. Why would someone cheat on Harry? "Why would you think that?"

"I saw it. I mean, it may have been a misunderstanding; but I doubt it very much. Actually- no, it was definitely not a misunderstanding", the blonde replied, sighing again. “Yesterday I fell asleep after finishing my homework and forgot to do the shopping that Mom asked me to do. So I went shortly before the grocery closed, and on my way out, I saw James' car in the parking lot. But, like, very far away, under the street light that only blinks every 5 minutes. And I walked over, Louis, I literally stood by his window and saw him! I don't know if he saw me... maybe he did, while I was walking away, but the point is, he was making out with someone!"

Louis blinked, taking in the situation.

"Okay, sounds suspicious but how do you know it wasn't Harry?"

Niall shook his head immediately. "The person was wearing a denim jacket."

Okay, holy shit.

James was cheating on Harry.

What the fuck.

.  
.  
.

Now of course the situation sucked, it really did.

Harry; beautiful, sweet and innocent Harry would definitely be devastated. James was his first boyfriend and they had been together since they started high school, 3 years ago. Louis didn't know him very much, due to multiple reasons: because they were in different homerooms, because James was at the top of the social pyramid and he was a nobody; but mostly because it was clear that Louis was not to his liking. The contemptuous glances he gave him whenever they met when he chatted happily with Harry were proof enough of that. However, the little green-eyed rarely said anything about James that made him look like a bad person/boyfriend. You could say that Harry saw him in the best of lights; getting that news would be a very heavy blow, and Louis didn't doubt for a second that shitty days were coming.

But please, think of Louis. Harry would definitely get the worst of it, but Louis would get some shit too.

Louis had been in love with Harry since he moved to the city in mid-eighth grade; but come on,x could you blame him? Harry was gorgeous, always had been; with chocolate curls bouncing around his rosy cheeks, bright eyes, thick eyelashes and soft pink lips, always offering the most tender smile. And of course, his little cherub body draped in ridiculously oversized cardigans. If that view wasn't heaven, Louis didn't know what it was.

Niall and Harry had been his only friends since then, they spent the afternoons tucked into Naill's house, doing homework and listening to the rumors that the blonde always had to tell, although they rarely believed him.

Things changed when they entered high school and Harry was assigned to a different homeroom. There he met James. Louis knew what would happen since Harry spoke about him for the first time. However, he swallowed his jealousy and accepted his cruel fate immediately. Louis could never be an option compared to James. It was fine, though. Harry's friendship was more than enough.

As for Niall, if he knew about his feelings, he never told him. He never teased or gave him particularly pitying glances when Harry left home early to hang out with James, or when he didn't even stay with them after class; or when he had lunch at a different table and leaned his head on his boyfriend's shoulder, sighing and looking at him adoringly.

There was only one time Louis nearly lost his shit, sure that Niall had noticed. It had been at the school dance, at the beginning of this summer. James was nowhere to be found and the curly one was sitting next to him, clearly bored. Then Harry's favorite song had started playing around the gym, and in a fit of bravery, Louis had invited him to dance. It was clumsy and silly, but man, he would do it again without hesitation just to see the flash of joy in his green eyes and his beautiful smile as he accepted.

At the end of the song a flushed but happy Harry had retired to the bathroom when the blond stood in front of him with a dumb smile and raised eyebrows.

"Dude, that must've been amazing," he said, his voice full of amusement.

Louis nearly choked. "I don't- I don't know what you're talking about, Ni"

Niall raised an eyebrow even more, if that was possible. "Oh, don't you?" He frantically denied. "Well, of course I'm talking about making James jealous."

"What?" Louis laughed. That was ridiculous, even, was James around?

"Yeah, you know. Taking Harry out to dance while James is watching from the corner. If looks could kill, you would've died since you held his hand. You would not have made it to the dance floor."

With that said, Niall went to stick his head between the snacks table and didn't bring up the subject again. Louis wasn't even sure what he said was true. He wasn't considered enough to make someone like James jealous.

However, what no one ever found out was that exactly that was the reason why James bolted for other arms. But that's another story.

.  
.  
.

Louis was right. He was getting some shit.

He doesn't blame anyone, he really doesn't. It just feels unfair. He did nothing but fall for someone who didn't love him back.

He was not a bad person, nor was he a bad student. He helped his mother with housework and never teased or judged other people, even if deep down he wanted to. So why had life decided that he deserved such punishment?

Since the day Niall had told Harry what happened, there was nothing but chaos and drama (even though justified) in Louis' life.

If you asked him what the worst part was, he couldn't answer. Everything was just as bad and painful.

Harry didn't react for the first two days. He took the news in a gulp and thanked they had told him. But he didn't cry; he didn't want to talk about it and it was almost as if his body had become incapable of showing the slightest bit of emotion.

It was the third day when Louis came to visit him in the morning when he broke down. He cried a whole sea of tears, clinging to Louis' chest as if his life depended on it. At the time it probably did. And Louis couldn't do anything but hold him tight, run his comforting hand over the boy's back, and let the salty tears wet his clothes.

Harry didn't realize that Louis cried a little too, that his heart broke into a thousand pieces because he couldn't bear to see the person he loved drowning in such sadness. Louis got hurt too, but he didn't care.

He stood with him every agonizing moment of what was left of the summer, listening to every word Harry had to say. He listened to his story with James between tears and cups of tea; speculation about what might have gone wrong while hugging him at sunset; and even some nights when he stayed to sleep, he heard sad nonsensical words come from his sleepy lips.

Louis would have given anything to take the pain out of Harry's chest, no matter the cost. Even if it meant more pain for himself. For Harry, he would have done it without hesitation.

"That bastard hasn't even come close to him," Niall hissed. "And he has the audacity to skate on his street"

Louis nodded sadly. They were getting their supplies ready to return to school the next day. They had left Harry's house when James passed right in front of them on his stupid skateboard. Niall hadn't stopped releasing his shit from there.

"You know the worst part?" Niall continued. Louis denied. “A few days ago I saw him with _Denim Jacket_ again. I didn't say anything because I hadn't found a moment alone with you and obviously I wouldn't say it in front of Harry. He has improved a lot for us to discourage him again. The point is, the son of a bitch goes on like he doesn't even know him! Do you think he'll try to talk to him tomorrow? "

Louis lifted his shoulders. He had no idea. “That will be a bit difficult now that Hazza's homeroom switch has been authorized. And even if he tried, I doubt he wants to talk. He will probably ignore him and walk away."

Niall nodded energetically. "Yeah. Moved on already. He's not foolish enough to run into his arms again, is he?", The blond replied immediately,"No, of course he's not, the last two weeks he has done well, hasn't he, Louis? Yeah, he has hardly cried." He paused a little. “I'm very proud. Although in big part it's because of you, my mate. You have been unconditional to him despite everything, you've helped him more than you imagine. We are very lucky to have you."

Louis smiled at Niall's words. He was too exhausted to contradict him with false modesty. However, the memory of Harry's determination to move on lately flooded his chest with pride. His smile grew.

.  
.  
.

"Lou! You didn't have to bring me anything, it wasn't necessary!"

Louis blushed and smirked. “Well… maybe not, but it's your birthday. I just wanted to remind you how much you mean to me "

Harry batted his lashes beautifully, brushing away the tears that were beginning to form in his eyes. "Aw, Louuu!" He threw Louis into a tight hug, holding his gift firmly. "Thank you. Really, thank you so so much." He pulled away and smiled, clearly excited. "Can I open it now?"

Louis paled. "Uhm, sure, yeah…" He had honestly hoped he wouldn't be present when Harry saw his gift in case he didn't like it; that would save them the discomfort of the curly trying to hide his real reaction.

However, it was the opposite.

Harry's face lit up as he removed the wrapping and found a pair of cardigans that Louis had carefully chosen from a prestigious clothing store in the mall, forty minutes out of town.

One of them was mostly red, checked in bright shades of green, yellow, and orange; and the other was a soft cream color, almost white, with green lines in the borders and silver stars on the sleeves.

"Lou, I-" Harry smiled enthusiastically and shook his head in disbelief. "I don't know what to say, this is ..."

"They remind me of you," Louis blurted out before he could help it.

"They do?" the curly asked, raising an eyebrow.

Louis nodded awkwardly and gulped. Harry wore cardigans so often that they had become his trademark, but that wasn't why Louis had thought of him when choosing them. “This one reminds me how joyfull you are. Strong and energetic and positive. And this reminds me of your kindness and how you always care about others and strive to be a better person every day,” Louis said, pointing from the red cardigan to the white one, his eyes embarrassingly meeting Harry's. “They are features of yours that make you wonderful. And that's why I… uhm… I lo-"

"Sorry to interrupt." Both boys were startled when they heard Niall's voice. Louis would have thanked him inwardly for keeping him from saying something he would regret later, had it not been for the unmistakable look of angry mother hen on her face. "There's someone at your front porch and says he won't leave unless he talks to you."

.  
.  
.

So the next few minutes consisted of agonizing waiting.

For Louis it was almost inevitable to imagine that Harry would come back hanging on James' arm and awkwardly explain that it had all been a misunderstanding, now solved and that they would continue with their relationship as before.

However, his rational part forced himself to think that they had been in back at school for almost 6 months, and James had avoided even eye contact with the 3 of them. Such a simple reconciliation was not likely.

"What a jerk," Niall hissed as he waited sitting next to Louis. Other classmates paced and chatted around the room, blocking their view to the porch. "What a way to screw up his birthday."

Louis nodded weakly. He had suddenly felt like throwing up, but he hadn't eaten anything, it was just his nerves fucking with him.

"I'm sorry I ruined your confession, by the way" Niall said, he sounded really grieved.

"It's better this way" Louis replied, looking down "You saved me from humiliating myself even more in front of him"

"You don't know what you're talking about."

Before Louis asked why he said such a thing, Harry sat down again and gave them both a sheepish smile.

"How was it?" Niall broke the silence.

"It was good," Harry replied. "He's gone already"

"And... what did he say to you?" Louis asked cautiously.

"Nothing that matters now," Harry smiled. “He said he's sorry. And that what he did was just a summer thing. And that he would like to make it up to me, in a few words”.

No one said anything for a few seconds, until Niall couldn't bear the silence again. "And what did you say?"

“Well, I told him it was okay. After all, it's been so long that it makes no sense for me to hold any grudge against him. "

Louis nodded slightly in approval. There was silence again.

And then Niall asked, knowing that Louis didn't dare "What about the other thing?"

Harry blushed and looked at the ground for a moment, but then looked up with determination. "About the other thing, I told him not to worry about it, 'cause I'm alredy in love someone else."

Louis felt the tears pooling in his eyes, his chest already hurt so badly that it wasn't worth waiting another second to know the answer he needed, so he spoke in a small voice. "Who?"

"Isn't it obvious?" asked the curly one, with a little shy smirk "You"

Louis went blank. His brain turned to mush at the sight of Harry looking at him shyly. After blinking awkwardly, he managed to stammer. "I- You- You mean-?"

"I love you" Harry smiled.

"I love you too" Louis replied, the air completely leaving his lungs as his lips came to meet Harry's.

And that was it. Was everything he ever imagined and more.

Harry's lips were sweet and soft, and the sensation overwhelmed Louis so much that he didn't hear Niall sighing victoriously and exclaiming "Finally!"

.  
.  
.

Later, Louis was lovingly kissing his boyfriend under the moonlight. The environment was so quiet that he believed that if he paid attention, he could hear both of their synchronized heartbeats.

"I can't believe you waited so long for me," Harry whispered, burying his face in Louis' neck.

"You are my everything. I wouldn't care if you never loved me back. Being close to you was all I asked for." Louis replied, also in a whisper.

"Sorry for taking so long. I hurt you so much that it's hard for me to believe you don't hate me"

"Don't say that. I could never hate you” Louis caressed his boyfriend's face, with such delicacy that Harry's heart melted on the spot. "I would go through the same thing hundreds of times, if that means I can be with you in the end."

Harry wrapped the red cardigan around his body, then pulled Louis into a warm hug. They both smiled, feeling happiness flood their chests.

They were finally home.


End file.
